Feature

Let us go back a little in time and fix our gaze on the English departments, as they used to be, a half a century back. Then there was only the English department of the Dhaka University, the Oxford of the East (we are filled with pride at this comparison, little realizing that it is the model not the excellence that is implied here). That was a time when the departments were disciplined and had distinguished scholars; but it was also a time which upheld the colonial legacy of education with colonial patterns of administration and curriculum maintained. The curriculum adhered to canonical British literature for English literature meant only literature of the British Isles, preferably of England. So students of the English departments studied British literature, tried to speak with a perfect British accent, and went to British universities for higher studies. Of course, we had our own anxieties regarding the status of our mother tongue vis-à-vis Urdu and English, perhaps, played the role of a neutral language at this time.

This scenario continued through the pre-Bangladesh decades. 1971 and the Liberation War lit up this nation with the “flame of life”. How did this impact on the English departments? Nationally, English was relegated from a Second to a Foreign language. Against this scenario, the English departments had to re-define themselves. They continued with their canonical texts, but perhaps felt less elitist. From here onwards, it is possible to identify certain landmark happenings which gave new directions to the English departments.

First was the arrival of Clive Taylor (under the auspices of the British Council) in the country. Our students were losing out in the international job market because of a lower level of competence in English. So Clive Taylor came to “Advance the Language Skills” of the Bangladeshis. The first batch of teachers were dispatched to the U.K. for ELT training; they returned and most of them immediately departed for Algeria to” advance the language skills of the Algerians”. The USIS also stepped in at this time and sent teachers to Hawaii to learn language teaching. There came a major thrust towards ELT in the English departments from this time on.

The next important landmark was the formation of BAAS. It popularized American Studies and American Literature was “accepted” for teaching in the English departments. So, the “British only” mindset began to change, after all. After this, there was no looking back! In 1988 , the seminar on “Other englishes”, organized by the Dhaka University English Department, was held. This marked the acceptance of the non-native varieties of English literatures and their subsequent inclusion in the syllabuses of the English departments.

The inclusion of these literatures reflects the grdual attitudinal change of the English departments. The” Englishness” and “Americanness” of English in a cultural sense is, perhaps, now less of an issue and the English language is not perceived necessarily as imparting western traditions and values.